There is still disbelief in the rugby fraternity after Monday’s news that Reds players Izack Rodda, Isaac Lucas and Harry Hockings had been stood down for not agreeing to short-term pay cuts that 189 of their peers across the country settled for.

The ultimate goal of the players is to break free of their Queensland contracts. Lucas and Hockings are exploring options in Japan and Rodda is threatening to do the same, as well as indications he wanted to switch Super Rugby franchises because of a breakdown in his relationship with coach Brad Thorn.

According to Whitaker, who played in Ireland for Leinster after a stellar career at NSW, it is about providing a good environment for young players that is more appealing than what goes into their bank accounts.

“It is what it is,” Whitaker said about the possibility of foreign clubs luring players offshore. “At the moment, there has been no real talk about people wanting to leave or a mass exodus or anything like that. We’re quite lucky in that the majority of our squad is quite young and they’re all super keen to impress and get a spot.

“The main thing is you keep the guys you want to keep. I’ve been overseas and it’s hard to challenge and compete against some of the teams in the UK. Not so much the UK now but definitely France. It is what it is but the challenge is to build a program where the guys want to stay in and want to play for NSW.”

The massive elephant in the room is the question of whether Australian rugby will ever look the same again?

As the NRL powers towards a resumption next week, RA is yet to confirm when its own competition, featuring roughly a third of the teams compared to its league counterparts, will restart.

There may not be anything formally announced this week but players are training and working towards an early July kick-off.

Once there is clarity, RA will go to Fox Sports and renegotiate a broadcast deal for the remainder of the year. It is a complex task given the competition has shrunk without other international sides.

How much cash Fox Sports throws at RA will depend on the competition’s integrity.

Once a revised broadcast deal is signed off, RA and the Rugby Union Players Association will sit down to determine whether the initial 60 per cent pay cut over six months remains until September 30, or if normal service resumes and players get the full amount of their original contracts.

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The feeling among sources with knowledge of the situation is it is leaning towards the former.

Players are desperate to receive some kind of certainty from RA about what their future holds.

When October 1 rolls around, if RA cannot fulfil contracts, revised salaries will be put in front of footballers around the country. They have the option to walk away if they think the pastures are greener elsewhere.

This will be hugely dependent on the next broadcast deal from 2021 until 2025.

“There hasn’t been one [player] amongst them who has come in and either dropped their head or said something negative,” Whitaker said. “They’re all pretty keen to get stuck into it and get stuck back into the field.”